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Pennsylvania Railroad Class GG1
The Pennsylvania Railroad Class GG1 were a class of electric locomotives built for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) for use in the northeastern United States. Between 1934 and 1943, by General Electric and the PRR's Altoona Works built 139 GG1s. It was one of the most popular electric locomotive ever. The mechanical design of the GG1 was based largely on the New Haven EP3, which had been borrowed earlier from the New Haven Railroad by the PRR to compare it to its current standard electric locomotive, the P5a. Beginning in the early 1910s, the Pennsylvania received the FF-1 but decided it was too slow for passenger trains and was relegated to heavy freight service. In 1933, the PRR decided to replace its P5a locomotives and told General Electric and Westinghouse to design prototype locomotives with the following specifications: a lighter axle load and more power than the P5a, a top speed of at least 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), a streamlined body design and a single (central) control cab. Both companies delivered their prototypes to the PRR in August 1934. Both locomotives had the distinctive streamlining, but #4800 was the only unit ever to have a riveted body, giving rise to the nickname "Old Rivets". The GG1's entered service with the PRR in 1935 and later ran on successor railroads Penn Central, Conrail and Amtrak. The last GG1 was retired by New Jersey Transit in 1983 and most have been scrapped, but 16 of these engines remain in museums. None will ever run again given the removal of the transformers upon retirement, for these were revealed to contain dangerous materials known as PCB's; that was one of the factors for the GG1's demise, apart from bogie and frame cracks. Trivia *The engineer's cab had a 21 position controller for applying voltage to the motors. *Beginning in the early 1910s, the Pennsylvania received the FF-1 but decided it was too slow for passenger trains and was relegated to heavy freight service. In the mid 1920s, they received the L5 electric which had third rail power supply at the time. *In 1976, locomotive #4800 was painted in patriotic colors to celebrate the United States Bicentennial celebrations. *In 1969, Locomotive #4902 hauled the Golden Spike Centennial Limited. *The GG1s were primarily designed to pull passenger trains, but they were also used for freight service. *In 1952, the paint scheme was changed to tuscan red; three years later, the pinstripes were simplified to a single stripe and large red keystones were added. *Both companies delivered their prototypes to PRR in August 1934. *The first designer for the GG1 project was industrial designer Donald Roscoe Dohner, who produced initial scale styling models, although the completed prototype looked somewhat different. *On January 15th, 1953, locomotive #4876, hauling the Federal Express, overran the station platform and crashed into the station concourse, falling through the floor and into the basement of the station. Although nobody was killed, 43 people were injured in the accident. The accident was caused by a brake defect on one of the passenger cars in the consist. *In later years, after when locomotive #4902 hauled the Golden Spike Centennial Limited the locomotive became Amtrak #905. *It was not until Amtrak imported two lightweight European locomotives – X995, an Rc4a built by ASEA of Sweden and X996, a French design – that a replacement was found. *Penn Central went bankrupt in 1970 and its freight operations were later assumed by government-controlled Conrail, which used 68 GG1s in freight service until the end of electric traction in 1980. *The GG1 was designed to run on the standard Pennsylvania Railroad catenary power of 11,000 V AC, 25 Hz. *Both locomotives featured a center-cab, bi-directional, design. *In 1945, a Pennsylvania GG1 pulled the funeral train of President Franklin D. Roosevelt from Washington, D.C.'s Union Station to New York City's Pennsylvania Station. *GG1s delivered 4,620 hp, but could reach 8,500 hp for short bursts. *It made a round trip from D.C. to Philadelphia and, on its return trip, set a speed record by arriving back in D.C. 1 hour and 50 minutes after its departure from Philadelphia. *These engines appeared in some Hollywood films. *On June 8, 1968, two Penn Central GG1s pulled Robert F. Kennedy's funeral train. *On about 40 units, the air intakes were moved to a position under the pantographs. *General Electric submitted the GG1 and Westinghouse submitted the R1. *Timetable speed limit for the GG1 was 75-80 mph until October 1967 when some were allowed 100 mph for a couple of years; when Metroliner cars were being overhauled in the late 1970s, GG1s were again allowed 100 mph for a short time when pulling Amfleet cars on trains scheduled to run 224.6 miles from New York to Washington in 3 hours, 20–25 minutes. *During its tour of the United States in 1969, LNER Class A3 No. 4472 Flying Scotsman had to be hauled by a Penn Central GG1 locomotive through Pennsylvania. See Also *Gallery Category:Electric Locomotives Category:PRR locomotives Category:American Locomotives Category:Amtrak locomotives Category:Conrail locomotives Category:GE Locomotives Category:Movie Star Locomotives Category:Streamlined Locomotives Category:Passenger Locomotives Category:Presidential Locomotives